Edgefield County, SC
Total population (1850): 39,262
Enslaved population (1850): 22,725
Percent slave: 58%
Extant nineteenth-century inquests: 524
Date range: 1829-1899
Percentage of violent crimes in county sample: 39% (202/524)
The small, rural district of Edgefield, South Carolina was the Deadwood of its day, amassing a reputation for murder and mayhem unique in the nation. Forget the gangs of New York, the toughs in tailored suits strutting about Edgefield's Court House Square were up for almost anything. Take this typical exchange between Thomas Cherry and Charles Cobb.
Cherry: "You Damn puppy."
Cobb: "What are you?"
Cherry: "Do you mean to call me a Damn puppy?"
Cobb: "What are you?"
Cherry: "If you call me a Puppy, I will ag you in the face."
Cobb: "You are nothing else."
With that Cherry stabbed Cobb through the face with an umbrella.
"If we over in Edgefield insult each other, there is generally a fight or a funeral afterwards," noted Ben Tillman, one of the ten men of the district to serve the state as governor. Like Tillman, circuit judge Thomas Mackey took an almost perverse pride in the region's reputation. "I am going to hold court in Edgefield," he told a friend, "and I expect a somewhat exciting term, as the fall shooting is about to start."
Like most reputations, Edgefield's was at once deserved and exaggerated. At 39 percent, Edgefield County does have the highest proportion of violent crimes in the CSI:D sample. At 35 percent, Greenville County is not that far behind. More important, Edgefield's reputation for affairs of honor masks the mountain of dishonorable violence revealed by the morgue. Men spoiling for a fight on the street are rarely much different at home. In June 1893, Bill Gasten was sitting near his wood pile when his wife emerged from the house to draw some water from the well. Something she said set him off and he grabbed up a walking stick, hit her with it, then threw her down and began choking her. Emerging from the kitchen, her sister grabbed up the stick and told Bill to "let his wife alone." She had just started back to the kitchen when Bill cracked her head with a hoe.
Edgefield County, SC Inquests
Name | Deceased Description | Date | Inquest Location | Death Type | Death Method |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Milledge Stuard | October 8, 1881 | at Mount [??] Yard | Natural Causes | ||
Peter | Negro man | December 30, 1859 | at the Plantation of Mr Wm Bunch | Accident | |
infant | infant | January 24, 1893 | at Clintonwards | Accident | |
Richard Lundy | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Daniel | slave, boy | April 28, 1859 | at L. Halls Tisery[?] | Suicide | |
Kenneth Martor[?] | January 15, 1852 | at Thomas Samar's[?] Mills on horse creek | Accident | ||
Joseph Ruffington | January 9, 1893 | at Thos O Attaways | Accident | ||
infant, (male) | infant, (male) | April 29, 1857 | at Potterville | Homicide | |
Henry Jones | September 21, 1855 | Accident | |||
Samuel Harrison | February 18, 1881 | at [inelligible - faded] | Accident | ||
Peyton Bird | colored | September 29, 1869 | at Edgefield CH | Natural Causes | |
Rufus Harling | September 16, 1897 | at Clarks Hill | Homicide | ||
James Frazier | Babie | October 24, 1890 | at D. B Hollingworth | Accident | |
Clara Bell | colored child | June 23, 1868 | at Rev. H.T. Baitleys | Homicide | |
William Prince | July 9, 1851 | at the house of John W Garrett | Accident | ||
Wallace E. Bland | July 4, 1880 | at Edgefield C. House | Homicide | ||
Minnie Johnson | December 22, 1892 | at John Bettis plantation | Accident | ||
Lidda Hampton | November 24, 1893 | at A Derrecks | Natural Causes | ||
infant child | infant child | September 15, 1861 | at the residence of Mrs Margret Willis | Accident | |
John McKinny | September 26, 1894 | at W P. Lipfords[?] | Homicide | ||
A. P. Shultz | January 9, 1850 | at or near Solomon Clickleys[?] | Unknown | ||
James Booth | August 23, 1878 | at E. C. House | Homicide | ||
Gus West | October 11, 1883 | at Jack Holms | Unknown | ||
Hardy Boulware | January 2, 1862 | at Hardy Boulwares | Homicide | ||
Robert Johnston | May 23, 1891 | at Clarks Ferry below bridge on C. & G.[?] R R | Accident | ||
Willie G. Harris | March 25, 1897 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Mary Gillam | January 1, 1891 | at Mrs Francis Wrights Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Mary | Slave | May 17, 1847 | at the Plantation of A. Perrin | Homicide | |
Thomas Rosseter[?] | August 30, 1852 | at Hamburg SC | Accident | ||
Sis Bonham | child | February 18, 1894 | at M.B. Davenports | Accident | |
Hampton Reynolds | July 30, 1892 | at J.W. Reynolds Plantation | Accident | ||
Elmira Jackson | May 18, 1884 | at George Holingsworths House | Accident | ||
Luther Harris | May 26, 1899 | at the plantation of George F Towns | Homicide | ||
Milledge Denny | colored child | June 23, 1868 | at Rev. H.T. Baitleys | Homicide | |
Abram | slave | October 8, 1860 | at the Residence of H. B. Raborns | Natural Causes | |
Isaac Grimer | December 10, 1868 | at Jacobs Branch on the Spaun Church road | Accident | ||
George Washington Crowder | October 19, 1866 | at Grannetville | Accident | ||
Henry Parks | September 14, 1895 | at Parksville | Homicide | ||
Lona May Hamilton | child | October 18, 1893 | at or near Longmires PO[?] | Natural Causes | |
Mike | negro man | September 13, 1844 | at Dr John D. Nicholsons Mill | Accident | |
Jack | negro boy | May 14, 1852 | at the house of H. W. Posey | Accident | |
Pete | slave | October 31, 1864 | at Liberty hill | Unknown | |
Blanchy Wilson | November 30, 1893 | on the plantation of Robert Hastings | Accident | ||
Charles | negro man | February 27, 1850 | at Scotts Shoals on Savannah River | Accident | |
white man | white man | October 21, 1849 | in the woods near Holsonbakers[?] old fields | Natural Causes | |
James Leppard | February 13, 1893 | at F. M. Leppards | Natural Causes | ||
Peter White | March 11, 1898 | at Jacob White upon the Plantation Silvester Chipley | Homicide | ||
Matt Loyd | February 24, 1891 | at Mr. Carmal cemetary near the Old Wills | Natural Causes | ||
Polly Vines | April 20, 1892 | at the house of Ben. Holt | Natural Causes | ||
Henry | slave, boy | May 1, 1857 | at Arthur Glovers House, Horns Creek | Accident |